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D'Antoni makes Lakers coaching debut

L.A.TIMES

FS West

New
Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni made his coaching debut as the Lakers welcomed the Brooklyn Nets.

After a false start Sunday that gave Bernie Bickerstaff a chance to pad his record as winningest coach in franchise history (by percentage), D'Antoni finally took over, eight days after signing with the team.

D'Antoni's on-court debut with the Lakers has been delayed by his recovery from knee-replacement surgery a few weeks ago. On Monday, he appeared without crutches to speak with the media.

Since Mike Brown was relieved of his coaching duties, the Lakers have won four of five games. In each victory the team scored more than 100 points but in the last two, under the influence of D'Antoni, the team averaged 116.5 points a game.

D'Antoni has said he expects the Lakers to score 110 to 115 points a night.

They'll have to do it without
Steve Nash for now because the team's star point guard is still recovering from a non-displaced knee fracture.